A bank raider whose getaway motorbike was kicked over by a bank porter after former Dublin GAA goalkeeper Paddy Cullen had pushed his gun aside has been jailed for eight years.
John McCann (20) had threatened to shoot Mr Cullen outside the AIB bank at Swords unless he handed over the money he was about to lodge - the takings of his Manor Inn pub. McCann later pointed the gun at gardaí, who succeeded in arresting him following a struggle.
Judge Desmond Hogan praised Mr Cullen and the bank porter, Mr Brendan Donnelly, and also the bravery of gardaí Darren Martin and John McNamara.
The gun was designed to fire blank ammunition. McCann, of Valeview Drive, Finglas, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to handling a stolen motorcycle and attempted robbery on May 10th, 2004.
He also admitted suspicious possession of a loaded sawn-off shotgun and allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car in Clonsilla on December 6th, 2004.
Judge Hogan imposed two sentences of four years each on McCann. The sentences are to run consecutively because he was on bail when he committed the second crime.